Turkmen scientists organized a field expedition to identify the primary plant communities emerging in the Caspian coastal areas abandoned by the sea, according to the online newspaper “Turkmenistan: Golden Age.”
Researchers from the National Institute of Deserts, Flora, and Fauna, as well as the Khazar State Nature Reserve, participated in the expedition.
Attention was paid equally to both the Caspian and the Karabogazgol Bay, which, being shallow, quickly releases land.
Following the expedition, the scientists noted the presence of an abundance of salt-tolerant annual plants in the hydromorphic zone. This dramatic change in the natural profile exemplifies the reversibility of degradation and desertification processes, as well as nature’s ability to fill empty niches and transform the landscape. The emerging “terrestrial” ecosystems on the former seabed are interesting for study and observation as a new type of natural complex.
The collected data will help discuss the transformation of the Caspian Sea’s natural complexes during the upcoming scientific conference on Caspian Sea issues, which will be held in Baku next May.
